Telephone answering systems in general are well known to the art. Such systems respond to an incoming telephone ring signal to transmit a recorded announcement to a calling party during a first time interval (T1), and they then automatically enter a message recording mode during a second time interval (T2) during which they record a message from the calling party.
Most prior art telephone answering systems, however, are complex in their construction, and incorporate complicated relay circuits involving a multiplicity of mechanical relays in order to achieve the required switching functions. The telephone answering systems of the prior art also generally involve relatively complicated controls and other electronic circuits.
The telephone answering apparatus of the present invention is constructed to retain all the basic functions of the prior art systems and apparatus, and yet it involves a relatively simple and inexpensive assembly, and relatively simple electronic controls and circuitry.